Better Than a Retirement Party

by Ron Perry

A study in the life of Moses is a worthy study for any leader in ministry, because Moses was a leader who struggled with many issues:

Feelings of inadequacies in his leadership skills and abilities

Leading people who didn’t trust him

Leading people who attacked him in complaint and accusation

Experiencing the pressure of knowing God’s will for the people and struggling to communicate it to them

Struggles in patience with the people God asked him to serve

Experiencing the need to continue to lead, even though tragedy and crisis was happening in his own family

Making sinful decisions that affected his future opportunities in ministry

As you navigate your way through the life of Moses and his ministry with the Israelites, you will notice a glaring absence—something that is missing, particularly at the end of his ministry. Travel to the end of Moses’ ministry with me for a moment and notice this missing element. In Deuteronomy 31–33, we see the final words of exhortation from Moses to the people of Israel. We see a seasoned leader sharing his insight into their weaknesses, the remedy for those weaknesses—a faith in the person and words of God, and the challenges they will face. We can almost feel Moses winding down both his life and his ministry.

But then as we read the end of Deuteronomy, we begin to look for the way the Israelites will end their time with Moses. After all, he was the man who had led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness. He had sacrificed and endured much in his attempts to minister to them. If there were ever a time for Israel to stand up and say a heartfelt, “Thank you!” it was at this point. But we are saddened to read that nothing is recorded in the way of celebration for his long years of faithful service. In similar situations, many people would have given their leader a retirement party, but Israel did nothing.

Many of you leaders and managers in ministry have experienced this in your own ministry. You put in a long day of preaching and ministry, and no one says, “Thank you.” You pour months of hard labor into a particular project and hear more complaining than you do words of gratitude. Nearly every leader in ministry has experienced the reality of serving people who do not show gratitude.

But before you give up in discouragement, take note of what Moses did have, though he didn’t get a large thank you and retirement party. Deuteronomy 34:1–4 records in a few simple sentences how the Lord took Moses to the top of a mountain and showed him the Promised Land. Instead of a retirement party, Moses ended his ministry with a special one-on-one with the Lord! The neat thing is that this is not the only one-on-one Moses received with the Lord. His entire ministry was filled with a series of special one-on-ones with God.

As a leader in ministry, I want to encourage us to take note of the one-on-ones God gives us with Himself. Through them, we receive the joy that gets us through seasons of unnoticed, unappreciated ministry. In the midst of serving the Lord, He gives us special times in His Word, special times of prayer, and exposure to His supernatural miracles. In a sense, He gives us a front row to Himself when we are in ministry. Don’t miss it! There is a special joy in that seat, if we will recognize it and appreciate it. Keep a journal of what God is teaching you in that seat, and rehearse those things regularly. If you are feeling unappreciated, think about the one-on-ones God gives you. They are one of the highest privileges in ministry.